Crimes of Passion
by astraphobic kisses
Summary: Ty Lee reunites with Azula again in the absolute unlikeliest of ways. (prequel to Of Catching Lightning)
1. Chapter 1

_**AN:** This is a pretty brief prequel to Of Catching Lightning. It follows them meeting again and then goes to the night before they decide to get engaged. I have an unusual backstory I made up for them, and I decided to fully write it out instead of it just being referenced in drabbles._

 _Also, I love the Ty Lee floating between crazy jobs thing, but I never see her written as getting a very professional job at all._

 _It will not be sad or dark, but it is heavier on the sex and implied violence than my usual work, which is why it's rated M._

* * *

 _ **+Chapter One: Not Picked From a Hat+**_

Ty Lee has heard all the jokes in the world about her _calling_. About her flightiness, and about her being a meddler in many things but a master of none. A master of none except for one very fortunate skill set that she picked up from intense training.

Chi is important. Blood, bending, the heart and pain. She knew how to block it, and she used that in most of her work as the Kyoshi Warriors became more seasonal to her. The island was getting lonely and Ty Lee missed cities, and so she decided to just be on call.

Healing people, Ty Lee never put much thought into. She did sometimes wonder why she kept hurting, even after the war. And she also was sparked by the two coinciding events of her friend from work getting a bad leg injury, and the quite knowledge that Zuko had collected Azula and she was somewhere, Zuko hoping for her recovery.

Ty Lee learned how to do physical therapy, and stumbled into that. She then realized that her empathy and emotional intelligence were quite high, as is true with her aura reading and the fact that her childhood forced her to understand those things. People liked talking to her. Which made her contemplate therapy, which made her go to school for medicine.

Her parents always told her that she needed to take the first chance she got, and going on past primary school was foolish for a girl who had looks, and brawns but not brains. The military was more lucrative, but Ty Lee knew a lot of kids who decided to study politics, law, medicine and _mainly_ engineering. These were also necessary for a world at war, and feasible for a country that had time to develop wildly in a century.

Today, is the day Ty Lee at last leaves school.

"It wasn't as unbearable as I remembered!" Ty Lee squeals as she hugs Mai, the only person who showed up to the graduation.

"That's nice for you," Mai says quietly, awkwardly patting Ty Lee on the back. "So, do you have a fancy hospital job lined up? Physical therapy, you wanted to do?"

Ty Lee licks her lips. "I sent a letter to an old friend and asked him for… some beneficial-to-society nepotism."

"Well, I will tell you if I ever fall and get hurt or am sick or something."

And Ty Lee again squirms at the fact that she focused on nontraditional healing and psychology. They were not savory, Ty Lee was pretty mocked for it, but it was what interested her. Life is too short to pursue things you don't want to really be doing.

"Good. And you can of course give me loans to set up a private practice," Ty Lee says, beaming and Mai just shrugs.

* * *

After Ty Lee and Mai have dinner, Ty Lee goes to see said old friend. She feels guilty that she has been living in Caldera for a while, for an education in something that only the Fire Nation bothers to offer, and she really hasn't said much to the Fire Lord.

Ty Lee hugs him, and he is much more responsive than Mai.

"I'm happy to see you," Ty Lee says, holding him at arms' length. "You look super old! Oh, I'm sorry…"

Zuko just chuckles. "I know. I look awful. And yes I did of course lend you my nepotism. Giving a healer a job is definitely not the worst thing I could be using my power for. It's not without a catch, of course."

Ty Lee laughs and Zuko laughs more hesitantly. Ty Lee briefly thinks it might not be a joke, but she quickly compensates for her only being here to ask a favor by offering to play Pai Sho and get a little tipsy.

* * *

Ty Lee walks into the asylum and it looks far different than she expected. She does not like her history in this kind of place, and she imagined if she worked in a hospital, it would be for healing and her chi knowledge. The concept of psychology was just interesting to her, and she did hope it could help her heal people _fully_ when they were wounded.

But it does not look that off-putting. It was a summer retreat for a wealthy family once, now repurposed, and it looks the part. The furniture is clean and beautiful, the portraits intact and lovely. Everything is quite cautious, and people are sitting casually around.

 _Patients_ are sitting casually around. Ty Lee is starting to get very concerned about why Zuko sent her here. _Very concerned_. But Azula would not be somewhere this low in security. She's too dangerous, and Ty Lee assumed when she heard Zuko wanted her to take this job, he was testing her.

He was testing to see if she _would_ be able to work with Azula. Because surely Zuko is not enough of a fool to send Ty Lee right into Azula's talons with zero work experience outside of massage parlors.

There are thoughts that have not crossed Ty Lee's mind in a very long time now surging up.

They are made much, much worse when the head doctor looks Ty Lee up and down.

"You weren't picked out of a hat, you know?" she says as she gestures for Ty Lee to walk with her. "I think you might be a very interesting new approach, and he's been very desperate. I do warn you that you should be careful while talking to her. I think she's actually caused more damage with her words than the people she's burned or hacked up."

"She-she's _what_ up?" This is it. This is Zuko making a move that Ty Lee would never have predicted. This was supposed to be a test, and Ty Lee has never even _asked_ about Azula in years. Why would he think either of them still have feelings for each other?

"Some cuts. Uh, nothing to worry too much about. Just try to stick to the suggested topics."

"I have never had a job before. I am not prepared. I am too pretty to be hacked up!" Ty Lee quickly realizes her outburst and then swallows. "You can't honestly expect someone who barely passed school to jump into _this_!"

The head doctor frowns. "If you aren't up for it, there are plenty of people eager to prove even with the chance of getting hacked up…"

 _She's_ burned. _She's_ hacked up. _Her words have caused more damage than violence._

Ty Lee does sigh. And then she decides to be honest. "Fire Lord Zuko didn't tell me that this was the job. I would've said no."

"I thought you were aware. It can't have been surprising that you fit the profile of our need so much."

"She has no sentimental side."

"Certainly not. But she once was sleeping with you, was she not?"

"Are you kidding? No, a few trysts and halfhearted dates does not make me her past _mistress_. We were fourteen. This is…" Ty Lee rubs her temples. "This is why Zuko is not good with women."

"It's worth a try," the head doctors says and Ty Lee tries not to roll her eyes.

 _Ty Lee wasn't picked out of a hat. She was chosen because they thought that perhaps Azula would still want to fuck her. How respectful of her intelligence…_

She does clench her jaw. "I guess I'll face the music-uh, I mean, start my work?"

* * *

They walk down halls that are distinctly different from the lovely guest rooms. Everything was quite free, and Ty Lee imagines it is the type of place where criminals with rich parents are sent to be rehabilitated. The idea of someone _dangerous_ being here is Zuko being compassionate and guilt ridden.

These halls are still furnished exquisitely, but there is a coldness. There are several layers of locks. Eyes fixated on the people walking in.

"So, how are you keeping her in place?" Ty Lee asks slowly.

"We figured out to do it as naturally as possible. To retain her pride and dignity. It didn't make the progress we hoped, but she hasn't attempted escape since."

"Will I go in or will she come out?"

"She's very well restrained when out of her cell."

"I doubt that."

"Restrained… enough. She once got quite sick and had her restraints removed─"

"And promptly probably attacked. You were right; I wasn't picked out of a hat. What does Zuko want from this?" Ty Lee crosses her arm and wishes that the anxiety inside of her was just anger and mild fear, and not excitement. She wishes that she did not _want_ to see Azula after all of these years.

"She is immovable and detached, and disturbingly dangerous. But I believe you are up to the task." The last sentence is a lie, but Ty Lee does not protest.

They pass other rooms that must be high security, and then go through doors that would be much more at place in a stronghold than a retired summer home. More locks, at last, the door to a master bedroom.

It looks foreboding, but Ty Lee shows no emotion.

* * *

Ty Lee is chewing at her lip when she at last walks in. It is such a beautiful room, with a beautiful view. It is distinctly less terrifying than where Ty Lee last saw her. Then Ty Lee turns to her left, looking for the _cell_ part. She finds it. The room is halfway closed off, with everything important behind bars reinforced with glass. Ty Lee's eyes, however, do not immediately find Azula, and that sends a surge of panic through her.

It feels like one of those puzzles where you have to find the tiny little red dressed woman in a sea of distractions that make her blend.

But the words stick in Ty Lee's throat.

"How lovely to see you," at last says a voice that had only just stopped haunting Ty Lee. "I didn't expect him to go to _these_ lengths…"

"Where are you?" Ty Lee snaps, completely forgetting any protocol and glancing around.

"I'm not on the ceiling. Did you actually think I was on the ceiling?" Azula says quietly as Ty Lee is examining it. Azula emerges from the corner, where she was sunken into a chair. "You look like you have a profession other than prostitute in those clothes."

Ty Lee steels herself. She looks at the iota and Azula sighs.

"I happen to have gone to school for medicine," Ty Lee says as she folds it up and shoves it into her pocket. It is a fairly useless set of questions, and Ty Lee does know better.

"How did you ever pass?" Azula asks, and now Ty Lee can see her better.

She looks well, as well as she could be, at least. Her hair is pinned up, but much looser than before, a long, wispy and fluid locks fall from the bun and rest on her shoulder and back. She is well dressed, albeit clearly gaunt. It might be improvement, or it might be a bad thing, and Ty Lee has no idea what to make of this situation.

"Because you know how smart I am. You always did," Ty Lee says honestly and Azula just shrugs, her eyes flickering around the room for a moment. They still refuse to meet Ty Lee's.

"So, you're going off script?"

"I'm personally curious," Ty Lee says and Azula looks at her expectantly. It _is_ new. "What got you in here?"

"I got me in here. And perhaps I deserve to be."

Azula starts to slink back into the shadows, but Ty Lee refuses to budge.


	2. Chapter 2

_**+Chapter Two: A Date+**_

* * *

Ty Lee is completely unsure what to make of these developments. She feels like she is in a daze as she is shown to a beautiful bedroom overlooking the shining, eerily blue lake. Why is it so blue? Or is Ty Lee just feeling faint.

 _Thank you, Zuko_. She cannot believe he did not even give her a moment's heads up about the fact that she was going to be expected to do this with Azula. It just doesn't make sense. It just isn't right and Ty Lee has no idea how she is supposed to get through to someone that she has such a history with.

Does Ty Lee want to heal Azula? Yes, absolutely, of course. But she does not know how she is going to confront her own uncomfortable insecurities as well, in order to accomplish it. She just sits and then stands, and then paces and finally collapses face first on her bed and decides to go to sleep.

This has not been the easiest day of her life, that's for sure.

* * *

Ty Lee wakes in the morning and waffles over what to wear and how to paint her face more than she has in a long time. She wants Azula to see how impossibly sexy she is, to feel unquenchable desire. That might make this dreadful job worth it, in Ty Lee's eyes.

She goes to breakfast in one of the multiple rooms for staff, all of which are ornate and beautiful. Ty Lee finds this place very strange, but she embraces it and finds herself food and strong black tea.

"Will I see her today?" Ty Lee asks her boss, Lin. The Head Doctor is a woman almost as odd as the asylum she runs, but Ty Lee embraces it and decides to keep her mind open to what may come of this.

She just hopes it isn't bad.

"Of course. She is the only patient you will be working with," Lin explains calmly, as if that is not a humongous undertaking.

Azula was difficult enough before she was inside of a cell. Something tells Ty Lee that Azula will not be pleased for a moment about relinquishing even an ounce of her power.

"So, what were past attempts like? Save for people getting mangled," Ty Lee inquires, hoping that it is reasonable to discuss.

"They went poorly. She doesn't like being in this position. She doesn't, however, despite her intelligence, seem to realize that she will never get out of this position if she does not cooperate with Fire Lord Zuko's requests for her rehabilitation," Lin says, sniffing in and stirring her tea with an unused chopstick.

"People can't be rehabilitated if they don't want to be," Ty Lee says and Lin smiles as if Ty Lee is a silly little girl.

"People are malleable. Once you know what gets to them. We've tried most things, but Zuko's idea of using you is quite clever," Lin explains and Ty Lee hates this being referred to as her being _used_ again.

"I'm competent and I know her well. At least I think I do."

"Yes," Lin says, clearly realizing that Ty Lee refuses to have anyone mention the fact that they think Azula's physical attraction to her is going to work some kind of hormonal wonder.

That is not Azula.

Ty Lee may not be sure who Azula is anymore, and she may have felt odd when she saw the princess and realized how little she remembered of her face, but she knows that arousing her is not going to do anything.

In fact, nothing is going to do anything.

* * *

After breakfast, Ty Lee is guided, again, by guards to Azula's cell. Ty Lee wonders if they do not trust Azula or do not trust Ty Lee. Perhaps a healthy mixture of both.

"Hello, Ty Lee," Azula breathes, a soft sigh. "I would like you to tell the three doctors outside to stop watching us."

"I ─ I guess I can do that," Ty Lee says quietly as she turns to look at the stunned professionals playing the audience.

She then realizes that she has slipped up and looked too flexible. Ty Lee sighs and steels herself for turning this conversation the direction she _wants_ it to go into.

"I do not want to talk to you. Have I ever spoken about my private business to anyone? No. No, I haven't," Azula says with a sigh. "Are you the type of therapist who likes to be sweet and soak me up like a sponge, or the type who wants to push me until perhaps I just _burst_ with a _revelation_."

Ty Lee rubs her neck. "I'm the type who wants to be here less than you do. You don't have to do anything if you don't want to. I get paid either way."

Azula smirks and chuckles at that. Ty Lee is so sweetly naive, thinking that Azula cannot tell that she is curious. And, how could she not be? Azula is very curious about Ty Lee as well.

She rubs her elbow and studies her therapist from her own bed.

The cell is pretty, and well decorated, but she can't turn any direction without seeing the symbols of her imprisonment. This room is a cage masquerading as a luxury hotel.

"Why haven't you burned your way out?" Ty Lee asks, curious as she sees the wooden wall behind Azula. "Are they actually able to restrain you?"

Ty Lee has so much trouble believing that, it almost makes her laugh.

Azula frowns and is silent for some time. Ty Lee wants to ask and prod, but she was taught to remain silent, and so she does.

"Please leave. Maybe I'll talk to you this evening if you make it a decent date. You know, wine, dinner?" Azula is clearly hiding her thoughts by stating that. "I'm not kidding. I can tell that it's what they want from you, isn't it? So, if they're going to try to use my _alluring_ old flame against me, they might as well spring for a date night, don't you think?"

Ty Lee stays quiet for a moment. "I haven't been on a date in a while."

She shrugs and leaves, lamenting the fact that it took less than five minutes for Azula to push her away with such sweet ease.

"You asked her about her bending, didn't you?" asks Lin as Ty Lee sits down and rubs her temples.

"Did...?" The jolt going through Ty Lee makes her want to scream.

"No. She just stopped, and never started again. We tried to figure her out, but it went as well as you would expect." They are silent, and uncomfortably so. "For your first time, it wasn't that bad. And if she wants her date, she will get it."

Ty Lee just runs her hands through her hair and wishes that this were over already.

* * *

This only hurts when Ty Lee laughs. None of her dates with Azula have ever gone _well_ , but this is a new level of insanity that she is partaking in.

Well, she supposes she is in the right place to have a nervous breakdown.

She holds a bottle of wine in her hand, completely baffled as to how this is even going to work out, and what they could possibly expect from her. Yet, Ty Lee yet again spent ages in front of the mirror and relentlessly digging through her suitcases in hopes of finding the perfect outfit. And she looks _great_. The uniforms and her business casual attire definitely are not as attractive as her clothes now.

Azula, however, looks _sexy_. Agni, and Ty Lee is supposed to be the one seducing her.

"You look..." _Less like a mental patient_.

"I look fantastic, and way out of your league," Azula says calmly as she sits at the table.

The princess manages to ignore the shackles on her feet, making sure that she does not run. They are on a lovely sun porch and cricket-locusts are happily singing outside in the dark bluish night.

Ty Lee sets down the wine, hopes she does not have lipstick on her teeth, and sits down across from her old flame.


End file.
